Chapter 10
The shock was even more evident on Miguel's weak face. What do you mean a wendigo?" he thought skeptically of the other man's statement; this was definitely not the kind of normal world he was familiar with. A strange, constipating sensation momentarily assaulted his senses.
He remembered his teenage years when he had a strange taste for legends and the supernatural in a major way, perhaps this was one of the reasons why he liked an Earth series so much.That once-legendary tale of crazy people and assholes as unreal as Santa Claus was now as real as the cold wave of air passing through his hair. He felt almost like he was in the second episode of Supernatural that he was watching with his mother.
He was visually so stunned that it made him continue his words. ''The real question would be how are you still breathing?'' His eyes searched him for something different, but there wasn't, he was just a normal human being, he thought to himself, nothing but flesh and blood. ''Think about it, it's the same as a deer being taken away from food or water.'' he concluded his line of thought. ''You might think he'd die in a few days, that's common, but here you are up and walking to my surprise.''
Miguel's face immediately twitched. ''I've never been called a deer, this is the first time!'' he said with eagerness and a hint of morbid humor, despite having been called a dead man, but of course with words that were too kind.
''I'm glad you haven't lost your humor or your life, I'm really glad. To be honest, I was already tired of having to carry so many gray bodies across these lands to Kalia!" Despite the horror of such a sentence, he couldn't help but smile.
The atmosphere seemed more uncomfortable and less distressing for him, for the first time he felt his legs in a kind of trance with the cold of the night. The green walls of the hall glowed instead of being gloomy as he had seen them.
"Is pain and fatigue the only side effect of having your soul sucked out like a noodle?" A hint of humor as well as concern sounded in the words, the man understood beforehand.
``I don't know for sure, but considering that it's a miracle to be alive, I'd consider you praying the blood prayer three times and the sobriety prayer four times.'' Michael was slightly confused, but at least tried not to show it, of course, considering that the person in front of him was very minimalist. ``Of course, if you believe in the four gods.'' He concluded, adding to his previous statement.
Thoughts forged through his troubled mind. I do believe in him... But he's only one, he thought, remembering his other life. I was never very religious, but I always considered it the only truth I had... Life on earth was too meticulous and perfectionist to come about naturally, there was a hand in this feat... I believed this from an early age. Of course, the fact that I was brought up in the Catholic mold of my country made this intensify in any case, this was something to study in order to understand this new unknown world.
The fact that even in another world such thoughts and attitudes of believing in and praying to gods were commonplace sent a shiver through your hair and senses, perhaps religion is much more important than I thought for thinking living beings.
''Thank you in a way, for 'saving' me, I didn't ask your name anyway, sorry for the rude way!'' The man seemed surprised by his thanks, well he wasn't wrong in his words. ''You can refer to me as Swallow, it's not my real name but my work stigma.'' He felt a twinge of laughter, but controlled himself.
Their conversation only ended when Swallow opened the old white wooden door to the lower hall. They both looked like they were in an inn or something similar, Miguel thought categorically and surgically, because of the old, outdated furniture. Both were far from ugly, they were almost crude in their colors and shapes, their chairs long and tall with unique pointed ends and ornaments.
The door creaked slightly; it certainly hadn't been oiled for some time. At the top, there were golden ornaments and the color of the door was mainly beige, almost a pinkish shade of women's make-up, and at the far end there was a modest, glittering mirror. The door then opened, revealing the countenance and figure not only of Swallow, but also of him. The shock then left his ears...
That figure wasn't his, it wasn't the man with youthful features and ordinary brown hair, and in a twisted way he knew that this wasn't my body and it was far from it. That once young adult now had a much older and unique countenance in a way, his hair was no longer brown but black of an almost excruciating and unique hue, much like my own.
His eyes were circular and slightly large, as well as experienced and tired, many layers of dark circles gave him the charm of a tired worker after a long week's work. Damn... I was looking like an IT technician, deeply hurt, nothing left but to resent such a change.
His hands went back to his face, and to his surprise there was something there that made him look unique and almost mythical. Behind his perfectly cut social hair, dozens of burn scars ran from his skull to the top of his head and almost to his eyes.
A real rpg player, he thought to himself with a smile. Modesty aside, his appearance wasn't that bad, but it would take a long time for his change to become normal.
''Don't get me wrong, but can I accompany you for a while at least?'' His words were directed at the swallow that had already left the long hall, a single, amused expression on his smile. ''I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now...'' He seemed to understand anyway. ''All right, as long as you don't get in the way of my tasks, I can drop you off at the great Kalia on my way back from my destination.'' He seemed amused by his own words, ending his hand in a sign ready to end a temporary alliance.
It was reciprocated and both ended the touch. ''Done... So where to first?" Confusion was evident on his face, reddened by the cold of the night. Strangely, the other man had no red marks on his face and didn't seem to be feeling any of the excruciating cold either. It shouldn't even be above 8° Celsius, Miguel thought, he liked the cold, but not that much.
He said with a smile after a few moments. ''I hope you've had some experience with waste disposal, I need your help with a very important task, helper!'' Confusion was all that remained for Miguel. ''Yes, I've had some, but they were very specific and diverse.'' A skeptical feeling made him imagine that it wasn't going to be a good situation for him.
''Perfect, it's very specific, but I'd ask you to keep an open mind about our task.'' He sounded terribly excited and also rushed, and with impetus continued on his way to our hazy destination. ''I hate having to teach new contractors and them falling behind in their tasks, I feel like I've wasted a lot of time.'' His lament sounded between my ears.
The orange light of the black metal lamppost glowed faintly and then suddenly blinked out, all the others seemed to resonate with this failure and toasted it, leaving it slightly dark. We were walking down a narrow street almost in the old European style of a small village, it was a hilly and precipitous environment where dozens of brick houses stood in coalition with the mountains, it gave me a feeling of being in Japan but precisely in Okayama.
''So you have a talent for teaching?'' Miguel asked a little modestly, not even leaving the dark street around him silent for a second. ''Modestly, yes, I'm good.'' A sense of pride was evident in these words, he noted with remarkable accuracy. ''Of course, I'm not as good as old Harper.'' He stood but also noticed, despite being in another world, that here there was a common name, but also precisely American, typical of South Dakota and also Iowa.
A silence lasted for a few minutes before they both arrived at what seemed to be just another ordinary house like all the others. Swallow walked through the garden and up to the comfortable and visually comforting balcony of the beautiful house. Miguel understood immediately that they had arrived at their destination.